Former Vice President
Joe Biden
is putting the finishing touches on the rollout of his presidential campaign and is expected to announce as soon as next week that he is joining the sprawling field of 2020 Democratic contenders.

The 76-year-old former senator and two-time presidential candidate is expected to launch his campaign with a video as early as Wednesday, according to three people close to the former vice president. After releasing the video, Mr. Biden is expected to embark on a tour of early voting states and then hold a formal campaign kickoff event, the people said.

Advisers have discussed a possible kickoff event in Philadelphia in the battleground state of Pennsylvania; Mr. Biden’s home state of Delaware; or potentially in Charlottesville, Va., where a deadly white nationalist rally in 2017 galvanized the nation.

The people said the rollout plans, which were first reported by the Atlantic, had not yet been finalized.

Mr. Biden’s plans to join the race, which has been expected for months, will inject an experienced candidate who is well-regarded by party loyalists after he served for eight years as President Obama’s vice president.

Mr. Biden’s entry would add another top contender to a wide open field that also includes Senate Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California,
former Rep. Beto O’Rourke
of Texas and South Bend, Ind., Mayor
Pete Buttigieg.
Early primary polls have shown him leading
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
and a large field of Democrats vying to challenge President Trump.

Mr. Biden would occupy a centrist position among the candidates, many of whom have staked out policy positions to his left on issues such as climate change and health care.

Mr. Biden in recent weeks has been forced to address allegations from women that he inappropriately touched them or invaded their personal space. He has said he would be more mindful and respectful on the matter.

As he prepares for his third presidential bid, Mr. Biden has pointed to his experience and identified the need to help the nation heal its divisions and return to the norms established under Mr. Obama. He has labeled himself a proud “Obama-Biden Democrat” and said in early April he hopes to be “the last person to announce.”

“So give everybody else their day, then I get a shot,” Mr. Biden told reporters after a speech earlier this month before a labor union. “And then we’re off to the races.”

The field currently includes 18 candidates and a handful of other Democrats—including
Rep. Seth Moulton
of Massachusetts and
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock
—are expected to make their intentions known soon.

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